Private Kenneth I. Hatcher

331st Infantry Regiment, 83rd Infantry Division

KIA, July 27, 1944

*****

Ken Hatcher was killed in a foxhole just two days after arriving on the front line as a replacement soldier. When he looked out at the Normandy countryside during those few short days, the rolling hills, small farmhouses, and dairy cows must have seemed familiar to him. Ken was a dairy farmer. Before becoming a soldier, he lived and worked with his family outside Pardeeville, Wisconsin. At 27 years old, he was dead – a Wisconsin farm boy who died on the earth of a Normandy farm.

He had married his sweetheart, Elizabeth Rozek, in February of 1941, and moved his young family back home to help his father manage the farm. When he left to join his brother Troy in the Army in 1943, Ken had two beautiful children: Kay, one and a half years old, and Donald, 6 months old. As she watched Ken go off to fight, Elizabeth was pregnant with their third child, Bill, who would never have a chance to meet his father.

 Ken arrived at the front as a replacement soldier during the breakout from St. Lo. He was a well-built guy, and he was assigned to man the heavy BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle). Like many replacements, he arrived at the front with no friends and no relationship with his commanding officers.  Within days, Ken was dead, killed in a frontal assault mounted to push back the advancing German lines. 

The few remaining soldiers in the assault force were out of ammunition and water.  Capt. Frank Monan moved forward to retreive a water can next to one of his fallen men.  As Frank lifted the water can to his lips, he saw that it belonged to Ken Hatcher, a man he had met only the night before.  Even in death, Ken was able to serve his fellow soldiers.  Frank said a prayer for him each night from that moment on.

Ken’s youngest son Bill has slowly discovered the father he never knew, a journey that ultimately led to his involvement with SAVING FELA. Interviewed at his home in Wisconsin, Bill Hatcher shared what he’s learned about Ken and the legacy he left behind. Elizabeth Hatcher (now Murphy) spoke powerfully about the decision to bury Ken in the soil for which he fought. Ken’s sister, Nancy, 18 years his junior, detailed the effect of the wrenching loss to the family. And Joyce and Bill Monan, Frank’s wife and son, gracefully and emotionally recalled Frank’s experiences with Ken and others during the war. Together these interviews create an astonishing portrait of a life cut short.

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